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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078014">Cassie Lang and the Super Serum Best Friend Squad</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/forzandopod/pseuds/forzandopod'>forzandopod</a>, <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins'>reena_jenkins</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Cassie Lang POV, Cassie Lang will never take Captain America seriously again for her whole damn life, Gen, Pod_Together 2020, Podfic, Rapping with Cap, Unconventional Friendship, VOICETEAM 2020:To Infinity And Beyond</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 02:40:44</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,348</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078014</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/forzandopod/pseuds/forzandopod, https://archiveofourown.org/users/reena_jenkins/pseuds/reena_jenkins</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p><em>So the thing is, when your dad can shrink to the size of an atom, and you have a dog sized ant as a family pet, and also your dad was on house arrest for 2 years because he tried to help his friends plus he saved the whole world and now is officially a superhero and Avenger, is that it's kinda hard to relate to other kids your age. </em><br/> </p><p>Or, Cassie Lang and the adventures of having two over a hundred year old super soldiers as best friends.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Pod_Together 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cassie Lang and the Super Serum Best Friend Squad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520666">Cassie Lang And The Adventures In Befriending Hundred Year Old Super Soldiers</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxlunate/pseuds/attackofthezee">attackofthezee (noxlunate)</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So this happened because I listened to the excellent podfics of both fics in the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/1178186">Adventure's in Deaging</a> series by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxlunate/pseuds/stevergrsno">stevergrsno</a>. After listening to Reena’s podfic of the second one I went to leave a comment and 20 minutes later I was hitting the character limit because a not!fic had suddenly happened. I then realized I should probably just turn this into an actual ficlet and then it definitely turned into a whole ass fic. <em>Then</em> I proceeded to entirely forget about this for over a year only to be reminded of it during Voiceteam when I realized I could rope Reena in and turn it into a pod_together project and we both could get Infinity and Beyond points for that.</p><p>Based on the idea of CASSIE LANG WILL NEVER TAKE CAPTAIN AMERICA SERIOUSLY FOR THE REST OF HER WHOLE DAMN LIFE and what her reaction to the Rapping with Cap videos would be now that she's friends with Steve and Bucky.</p><p>This very much takes place in timeline, what timeline? Because I don't give enough of a shit to try and work it out. Like after Antman and the Wasp but disregarding Infinity War and the Snap? The Avengers are a team who superhero and hang out doing domestic shit! stevergrsno established that Steve and Bucky got deaged in 2018 so I'm just saying this takes place in 2019, cool? Cool. TIME IS AN ILLUSION AND THE MCU DOESN'T REALLY MAKE SENSE ANYWAYYYYYY</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>
    
  </strong>
</p><p><strong>Coverartist:</strong> reena_jenkins</p><p><strong>Length:</strong> 00:19:32</p><p>
  <strong><a href="https://reena.parakaproductions.com/podfics/(CA)%20_Cassie%20Lang%20and%20the%20Super%20Serum%20Best%20Friend%20Squad_.mp3">MOBILE STREAMING LINK | 14.1 MB</a></strong>
</p><p>
  <a href="https://reena.parakaproductions.com/podfics/(CA)%20_Cassie%20Lang%20and%20the%20Super%20Serum%20Best%20Friend%20Squad_.mp3"> <strong>DOWNLOAD MP3 (RIGHT-CLICK, SAVE-AS)</strong> </a>
</p>
<hr/><p>So the thing is, when your dad can shrink to the size of an atom, and you have a dog sized ant as a family pet, and also your dad was on house arrest for 2 years because he tried to help his friends plus he saved the whole world and now is officially a superhero and Avenger, is that it's kinda hard to relate to other kids your age.</p><p>That's why when Steve and Bucky get turned into eleven year olds it's the BEST. Cassie can play with them and there don't have to be any secrets and Steve and Bucky don't get all weird about how her dad is Ant-man and instead they can just watch movies and play video games.</p><p>It's nice having good friends again. Best friends? Cassie thinks Steve and Bucky are probably the best friends she's had in AGES. Sure, there are the girls on her soccer team and the kids at school but she can't talk to them about what's happening in her life. They either think she's weird or just want to hear stories about battles the Avengers fought in like that isn't her dad in <em>danger</em>. She knows her mom and her step-dad, Jim, worry about her and how since Dad became Ant-man she's invited less of her friends over, and hung out with them less. They want her to be a normal kid, but she's not really one of those anymore.</p><p>She has some good friends but no <em>best</em> friends. Until Steve and Bucky get deaged that is. She knows that it's bad that this happened and worse that nobody knows how to fix it. But Steve and Bucky as kids are fun! They hang out all the time and sure they don't remember being superheroes but they got how life sometimes gets really weird and suddenly you're surrounded by superheroes but also those heroes are just normal people.</p><p>Uncle Clint is kind of a disaster who spills coffee and survives on nothing but pizza (he's gotten slightly better since taking in Steve and Bucky, but Aunt Kate is the one who really knows what she's doing.) Aunt Nat likes doing intricate cross stitch in her spare time. And her dad is just a dork who taught himself stupid magic tricks and once built an elaborate fortress out of cardboard boxes just so that they could pull a heist together.</p><p>When the other kids her age want to hear about the superheroes they want to hear about the SUPER stuff, the battles and fights and stuff. (Cassie loves hearing those stories too, but those aren't the <em>only</em> stories, sometimes they're not even the best stories.) Like the time Clint once fell asleep on the couch and spilled an entire pot of coffee on himself and didn't even notice until he woke up three hours later. Or the convoluted and elaborate prank war between Tony, Sam, and Peter which ranged from covering all of the Ironman suits in neon post-its (Sam), to a web trap in the bathroom (Peter), to a tiny flying robot that gave small shocks at unexpected moments (Tony) and only escalated from there.</p><p>Steve and Bucky get how it's weird and normal all wrapped up into one. Sometimes they talk about it but also they can just play video games or Steve can work on one of his paintings and she and Bucky can attempt to help America make empañadas. It's the best few weeks she's ever had.</p><p>Then the news comes that Steve and Bucky have been returned to their adult selves. And it's good! That's supposed to be good news! But Cassie feels like she just lost her best friends. She <em>knew</em> this was going to happen, told herself that it would be okay, that she wouldn't get too attached. But she did and now they're gone.</p><p>Her dad is still the best though because he lets her pick a movie and they snuggle in a blanket fort and it's not okay but she feels a bit better. Then Steve and Bucky show up at their door and it turns out she hasn't lost her best friends, they just got bigger, which Cassie can roll with.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It turns out that having your best friends be super soldiers who have been alive for over a hundred years is ALSO weird. It's cool because she gets to hear more stories about what happened in the war and the adventures they get up to now as Avengers. Not just the play by play of the battles, but the funny stuff they said on the comms and pranks they pulled on each other.</p><p>Other times it's sad because Bucky gets kind of withdrawn, stuck in his head about his time as the Winter Soldier. He won't talk to her about it but she can tell. But she can still poke at him until he agrees to play the unholy combination of Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Candyland and Connect Four she's made up, and eventually she’ll get a smile out of him. Or it's Peggy's birthday and Steve is sad because she's just one of the many important people in his life that he's lost. But Cassie can cheer him up by roping him into making Peggy a birthday cake. Cassie makes Steve look away while she ices the cake with the words: "Happy 98th Birthday Peggy, Sorry You Couldn't Make It But We're Going To Eat Your Cake Anyway, You Snooze You Lose." The writing is barely legible but it does make Steve snort with quiet laughter which was the whole point.</p><p>Sometimes it's the <em><strong>worst</strong></em>. Like the time they played a Rappin' with Cap video in health class and it was <em>Steve</em> telling her about "changes to her body." It was already awkward because talking about puberty always is and for her classmates it's kinda weird because a superhero is giving them The Talk. But for Cassie it's her best friend talking about it in the MOST <em>awkward! way! possible!</em> Gross, gross, GROSS!</p><p>She knows Steve and knows that if he were to talk to her about it (and she would really rather he didn't, she's had the talk from all three of her parents and now health class, and that is already TOO MANY TIMES) Steve wouldn't be all earnest-awkward like he is in the video. In that, he uses a bunch of vague euphemisms because the videos were shown all across the country and some parents didn't really want kids to have much useful, accurate information. Oh no, Steve would be <em>incredibly specific</em> using both the technical and slang terms and drawing accurate diagrams. He'd say it's important information to have and she should know everything she can about how the human body works, especially the stuff people don't like to talk about. All these things are normal and she shouldn't be ashamed to talk about it. It's basically like how her dad talked to her about it but Dad had been super awkward and Steve <em>wouldn't</em> be and somehow that's worse.</p><p>But sometimes? Sometimes it's the absolute <strong>BEST!</strong></p><p>Like the time they watched the Rapping with Cap video about what to do in case there's an emergency at school. The Steve on the TV talks about evacuating quickly and calmly and "Remember, it's always important to listen to your teachers and follow their instructions," with his head tilted in that Serious Superhero way, pointing at them through the TV. And Cassie? Cassie <em>loses</em> it.</p><p>Because she has heard the stories from Bucky and she knows that Steve is a "little shit" ("wait, no BRAT, A LITTLE BRAT," Bucky had said, "I'm not supposed to swear in front of you, fuck") who can be counted on to do whatever the hell he wants anyway. Steve? Follow instructions? Aunt Nat told her that he once jumped out of a plane WITHOUT A PARACHUTE. So she bursts into loud laughter that she can't help and can't stop, right there in the classroom because Steve looks so serious and she knows he's full of crap.</p><p>But her teacher, Ms. Whitmore, isn't pleased and doesn't <em>get it</em>. So she stands up and snaps, "Do you think this is FUNNY Miss Lang, this is about what to do in an emergency and you think that there is something to laugh about here?" but Cassie can't stop laughing.</p><p>She knows that not only is Steve terrible at doing what he's told, he has absolutely no sense of fire safety. Cassie manages to get out, "Bucky told me he's LOST COUNT of the number of times Steve has run back into a burning building! Usually one that's about to EXPLODE!" before the giggles take over again.</p><p>Ms. Whitmore frowns and looks like she doesn't know what to do with that. She finally says, "Well, Captain Rogers is a trained professional and a superhero…"</p><p>Cassie can't help but interrupt, "No!" she insists, "He did it when he was a kid too! Bucky had to pull him out of a couple of fires even BEFORE the super soldier serum." Bucky had told her a bunch of stories about Steve getting himself into trouble ("trying to be a goddamn hero, when he was fifty pounds soaking wet and couldn't even breathe right most days, not to mention he couldn't throw a fucking punch" he’d complained) and Bucky having to haul him out of whatever dumb situation he had gotten into. She <em>still</em> can't get her laughter under control.</p><p>But she gets over it fast when Ms. Whitmore snaps again, "Young lady, you do not know Captain Rogers or Sergeant Barnes, please refrain from making up stories, you will be staying after school today for detention!"</p><p>Cassie looks at her teacher, horrified, "But no really! My dad works with them and they come and hang out all the time, they're like, my best friends!" she says.</p><p>Ms. Whitmore isn't listening though and just repeats, "Detention, after school, Miss Lang."</p><p>Cassie crosses her arms on her desk and puts her head down angrily. She quietly whispers, "you'll see," and glares at her desk.</p><p>So during a break Cassie texts her dad because he's supposed to pick her up from school today and needs to know it'll be later than usual. She also texts the group chat they set up when Steve and Bucky were deaged to complain about what happened and how her teacher didn't believe she knew them, but the break ended before either of them responded.</p><p> </p><p>She's been sitting at her desk for almost an <em>hour</em> doing <em>absolutely nothing</em> because detention is the <em>worst</em>, when the door to her classroom opens. Steve pokes his head in and says "I hear someone caused a little trouble today," he's smiling a little bit but trying to hide it.</p><p>Cassie bolts from her desk and throws herself at him, yelling "STEVE!!!!" He manages to get through the door before she gets to him and catches her before letting her settle on his hip. (Another perk to having friends who are adults with super strength is that he can lift her no problem just like when she was little).</p><p>Bucky had been behind Steve and is now in the room, "Heya Cass," he says and ruffles her hair. He turns to the teacher with what she knows Steve would call his "shit-eating grin" and says, "She was makin' up stories huh?"</p><p>Ms. Whitmore gapes and sputters, no real words coming out of her mouth. Cassie takes that moment to turn to Bucky and tell him, all in a rush, "Yeah, we watched the Rapping with Cap about what to do in an emergency and Steve said "you always gotta follow your teachers’ instructions" an’ I HAD to laugh because I know Steve is TERRIBLE at following instructions an’ always running into burning buildings rather than out of ‘em, an’ then Ms. Whitmore said he was a 'trained professional,'" she has to pause to laugh then, "and then I said that you said he did that even before he became all big and super an’ she didn't believe me!"</p><p>Steve's grin now matches Bucky's, and he turns to the teacher, "Well I think we may have cleared that misunderstanding up." He sets her down, then walks over to Ms. Whitmore and hands her a note, "Sorry her dad couldn't pick her up today, something came up at work but me an' Buck had a minute so we offered to come get her. You go on and grab your stuff Cassie."</p><p>Ms. Whitmore tries to gather herself, "uh, that's alright Mr. America," she squeaks, "I MEAN, Mr. Captain uhhh," her voice goes up an octave, "it's fine!" she says a little too loudly. She turns to Cassie, her eyes still wide, "I'll see you tomorrow, Cassie okay?"</p><p>Steve, Cassie, and Bucky exit into the hall and Bucky says, all fake grumpiness, "no one calls <em>me</em> Mr. Captain."</p><p> </p><p>The three of them start running when they walk out of the school's front doors, all laughing. By the curb there's a big black car, her dad is in the front seat grinning out of the open window. Cassie crawls into the back of the car, "so, you had a ”work thing” huh Dad?" she teases.</p><p>Her dad grins back, "Nope! I just wanted to see your teacher's face when Steve and Bucky picked you up," he gestures to a tablet on the dash, "Tony <em>may</em> have sent in a little flying camera bug or two so we could be sure to get the best angles and save this moment for posterity." Dad turns to Steve who is in the backseat with her, "Mr. America, huh?"</p><p>So maybe they're not the most conventional best friends an eleven year old can have, but normal is overrated anyway. She has a giant pet ant, a superhero for a dad, and two over a hundred year old super soldiers for best friends. That just makes her life pretty awesome.</p>
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